All the Way Home
by Sarah's Crack
Summary: Companion piece to Trial By Furry and When I Was A Child. Part of the newly minted Mandyverse. A brief, fluffy moment with Logan and Veronica and their children.


**Title**: All the Way Home  
**Author**: Sarah :)  
**Pairing/Characters**: Logan/Veronica, Keith  
**Rating**: PG  
**Spoilers**: None. This is futurefic!  
**Word Count**: 1488  
**Summary**: Logan and Veronica need a night off.  
**Disclaimer**: Not mine. Duh.  
**Thanks**: To **herowlness** for the supa!fast beta, and for not only helping me with quick plot ideas, but for MAKING A CHALLENGE IN MY HONOR. Johnny Rzeznik is totally proud. I know this, because I HUGGED HIM last weekend ;). Also to **candlewaxdreams**, for always being such a big proponent of this 'verse. I know you wished for L/V fluff, and...this really doesn't have much L/V in it, but IT WILL BE DEDICATED TO YOU ALL THE SAME :). It's fluffy at least!  
**Final notes**: Written for the **vmlyricfic** _Dizzy Veronica_ challenge, since...you know. The challenge was made for me and everything :). I've been wicked busy, though, so I wrote this in about an hour. I apologize for the complete and utter lameness, but I wanted to write SOMETHING. This is set in my Mandyverse (excuse the lame name), so some familiarity with Trial By Furry and When I Was A Child would help. My prompts were the lyric _drowning in your dizzy noise_ from _Dizzy_, and _baby toes_. Hee:)

--

"How could we _forget_ how exhausting a two month old is?" Veronica groused. "After Mandy, didn't we swear we'd never forget that trauma?"

Logan groaned and threw himself on the bed next to his wife. "Speak for yourself. I think I got a whole two hours of sleep last night."

"Lucky. That means _you_ can get him next time." Veronica closed her eyes and sighed deeply. Just as she was drifting off to sleep, however, a set of small footsteps pounded down the hall and stopped outside the bedroom door.

"Mommy! Daddy! Grandpa's on the phone!" Mandy shoved the aforementioned object into Logan's face. "He said that he wants to come over tonight and play games and eat pizza with me and Sammy. And _just_ me and Sammy. You can't be here. He said you need a vacation." She frowned. "But you can't _really_ go on a vacation without us! That would be mean."

"What?" Logan, who had been on the brink of sleep already, blearily grabbed for the phone. "Keith?"

While Logan listened to the voice on the other end of the line, Mandy grinned and made her way over to the crib in the corner of the room.

"Hi, Sammy! Wanna play games and eat pizza with me and Grandpa ton--"

"Mandy!" Both Logan and Veronica jumped off of the bed and ran to the crib. Veronica picked her daughter up quickly and moved her back to the bed.

"What's wrong? I wanted to talk to Sammy." Mandy's lower lip quivered. "Why can't I?"

Logan clicked off the phone and tossed it behind him. "Because your Mommy and I _just_ got him to go to sleep, honey. We need a few minutes to rest before he wakes up again."

Mandy nodded. "I heard him crying lots and lots last night. I had to shut my door, even though it's scary with it shut, 'cause hearing Sammy cry makes me sad. Why does he cry so much? Doesn't he love us?" she whimpered softly. "I love him!"

"Of course he loves us, sweetie. He just can't talk yet to tell us what he needs, like you can."

"So he cries instead?" The little girl's eyebrows rose incredulously. "That's stupid. _I_ never did that when _I_ was a baby."

Logan and Veronica exchanged a bemused look.

"Actually, Mandy..." Logan started, but was cut off when Veronica elbowed him gently in the stomach.

"So, what'd my dad want?"

"Oh. That. Actually..." Logan leaned in and began peppering small kisses along Veronica's jawline. "Keith thinks that we need a night off to recharge. He offered to stay here tonight with the kids, so we go somewhere and _sleep_. He was pretty adamant about the whole sleeping part, actually."

"Did you tell him that we're fine?"

"Weeeeell..." He looked hesitant.

"Logan! We can't just leave the kids. Sammy's still so little, and I wouldn't be here to feed him, and --"

"Veronica. He can manage with a bottle for one night. And it's not like we're leaving them with some random babysitter. Your dad _does_ actually know how to take care of a baby. I mean, you turned out okay, didn't you?"

"But we waited until Mandy was much older before we ever left her for a night," Veronica tried. "I just don't think I can do it." Her voice broke, and Mandy patted her mother's hand reassuringly.

"Grandpa said that you and Daddy were really, really, _really_ tired, and that you need sleep. As long as you go somewhere stupid and boring, and not someplace like Disneyland, you should go. Grandpa said so, and he's really smart."

Veronica laughed. "We _could_ use the night off. I guess."

Logan nodded. "He said he'd be here in an hour."

"What if I said I wasn't going?"

He smirked at her and nodded towards Mandy, who began giving an amazing rendition of the puppy dog face.

"There was a contingency plan," Logan informed her.

"Now that's just playing dirty," Veronica grumbled.

"Hey, she got that from her mother," he insisted, his face the very picture of innocence.

--

"Grandpa's here! YAY!" Mandy hopped off of the couch and ran to the front door excitedly. Flinging the door open, she smiled brightly at the man on the front porch.

"Hi, Grandpa! Did you bring the pizza? Does it have lots of cheese? 'Cause that's my and Sammy's favoritest. If Sammy could eat pizza and stuff, which he can't, 'cause he's just a baby and he's not 'posed to. But if he wasn't, it'd be his favorite, 'cause he told me so." Her head bobbed up and down enthusiastically.

"Hey, sweetheart." Keith set down the box of pizza and hefted his granddaughter in his arms. "Did you do just what I told you to do in front of your mommy? With the eyes and the little lip thing?" He attempted to stick his lip out in a pout as an example.

Mandy giggled. "She and Daddy are packing right now. Mommy said that we're really per...per...we're really 'sasive. And she couldn't say no."

"Good. You're a good girl for understanding that your mom and dad need this."

She frowned. "They don't play with me lots anymore, 'cause Sammy cries all the time. Maybe if they get some sleep, they will!"

"They're doing the best they can, Mandy. Remember how we talked about this?"

"Yep! But it's okay, 'cause I love Sammy, and I don't want him to cry, either."

"That's good." Keith smiled proudly.

Logan and Veronica chose that moment to enter the living room, Veronica gently cradling the baby in her arms.

"Hey, Dad. I just fed him a little while ago, so he shouldn't be hungry until later. We left some bottles in the fridge, and all you have to do is --"

"Veronica," Keith admonished sternly. "I've done this before. Don't worry. Mandy said she'd help me out. Right, Mandy?"

Mandy bounced up and down on her tiptoes, vibrating with energy. "Right. 'Cause I know _lots_ about babies."

"Okay." Veronica gingerly handed the small bundle to Keith. "We'll be at the Grand. Call us if anything happens, or if you can't get him back to sleep, or..." Noticing the look on Keith's face, she smiled and shook her head. "I know, I know. You've got it under control. Thanks for this, Dad."

"Yeah," Logan broke in. "I don't know how you knew we needed a little refresher, but..." Logan ran a hand through his unruly hair. "We need a little refresher."

Keith smiled knowingly. "It's included in my grandparent manual. Now you two should get going."

Mandy hurtled into each of her parent's arms and gave them both a sloppy kiss. "Be good!" She added, mimicking the words she'd heard her grandfather say on many occasions.

"Of course, Mom," Logan teased, tweaking her nose playfully. "See you tomorrow."

Just as he and Veronica opened the door to leave, a high-pitched wail erupted from Sammy. Both of them froze in the doorway, sharing a concerned look.

"Maybe we should stay," Logan said quickly. "Just in case." He took the baby from Keith and began humming softly in Sammy's ear.

"Oh, no you don't." Veronica plucked her son from Logan's arms and, placing a kiss on his forehead, handed him back to Keith. "You're the one that was all gung ho about this five minutes ago."

"But that was before..." Logan trailed off as the pitiful sounds of Sammy's cries filled the air.

Mandy brought both of her hands up to cover her ears. Frowning, she turned to Keith.

"Grandpa, bring him down here." She tugged lightly on his sleeve. "I wanna see Sammy."

Keith knelt down carefully, and Mandy smiled at her little brother.

"Hi, Sammy! Please don't cry!" Reaching out to loosen the blanket from around him, she gently wrapped her fingers around his big toe. "This little piggy went to market." She moved to the next toe. "This little piggy stayed home." Another toe. "This little piggy had roast beef, which is really gross." She reached for another toe. "And this little piggy had pizza instead, just like us, okay?"

Suddenly, the snuffling wails stopped. Sammy opened his eyes and peered at his sister, a smile gracing his tearstained face. He burbled happily, and began giggling when Mandy tickled him on the "all the way home" part.

Quietly, as not to disturb them, Logan and Veronica slipped out the front door, their arms around each other, satisfied smiles on their faces.

"You know, Veronica, you're right. I think that your dad and Mandy will take good care of Sammy while we get some much needed time off. There _has_ been something that I've been meaning to do…"

"What?" Veronica asked, feeling her heart pitter-patter in her chest.

"Sleep, of course," Logan responded with a smirk. "And once we're fully rested, maybe we can try something a bit more strenuous…"


End file.
